Poverty

A Christian minister and activist wants to send a message to President Barack Obama while he and his family are vacationing at Martha's Vineyard this week: remember the nation's poor and needy.

The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, plans to hold a demonstration on Thursday, Aug. 25, in front of the White House to protest what he sees as an "irresponsible" decision by Obama to leave Washington, D.C. while the nation is in turmoil.

"It's clearly irresponsible and sends the exact wrong message when we are struggling with these hard economic times...and it shows a profound disrespect for the poor and for the struggling for the president to take this incredibly expensive vacation," Mahoney told The Christian Post Thursday. more >>

Kenya Wolfgang Fengler, lead economist for the World Bank, has come out to speak against the famine that is ripping through Somalia and killing thousands of men, women, and children daily.

The World Bank lead economist has said in a phone interview with Reuters that the crisis is “manmade.”

She told the news group, “Droughts have occurred over and again, but you need bad policymaking for that to lead to a famine.” more >>

An investigation report has been released announcing that thousands of sacks of food meant for Somalia’s drought- and famine-impacted victims have been stolen.

The report, released by The Associated Press, suggests that stolen food aid is being diverted from the people and sold in markets across the capital in Mogadishu, where most individuals cannot afford to purchase it, particularly those that have fled the southern Al-Shabaab controlled region of the country.

In Mogadishu markets food can be found for sale with stamps on them indicating they were sourced from USAID, the UN’s World Food Program, as well as the Japanese government. more >>

PBS hosts Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, once strong supporters of Barack Obama, are traveling the country criticizing the president for failing to protect the poor during the debt talks. Noted African-American evangelical Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. agrees that the president has done little to help the poor, but says systemic changes, not more wasteful spending, are necessary to lift Americans out of poverty.

Radio and television hosts Smiley and his PBS Princeton University co-host West, have taken to the road on a 16-city "Poverty Tour." The tour stops at various towns and highlights the plights of the poor while blasting the president for his failed leadership.

During his Wednesday stop in the nation's capital, West told ABC News that President Obama should assert his authority more in order to help the downtrodden. more >>

The newly formed Christians for a Sustainable Economy (CASE) wrote a letter asking President Obama and congressional leaders to help the poor through economic growth, rather than through funding ineffective government programs.

The letter, found at case4America.org, takes issue with the “Circle of Protection,” a coalition of religious groups that met with President Obama during the debt limit negotiations to ask that programs for the poor be spared in the spending cuts.

“[Jim] Wallis (President of Sojourners) and the 'Circle of Protection' do not speak for all Christians,” the CASE letter states. “However laudable their intentions, the consequence of their actions is to provide a religious imprimatur for big government and sanctify federal welfare programs that are often ineffective – even counterproductive. more >>

The drought and famine affecting some 12 million people in the Horn of Africa is being identified as the worst food security emergency in the world today. And yet agencies report that the crisis is worsening.

"The situation is getting worse," said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos in a statement Friday. "If we are to avoid this crisis becoming an even bigger catastrophe, we must act now.”

According to the United Nations, the drought is the worst in 60 years and the emergency is expected to last for at least three to four months. Each day, thousands are fleeing the region to other parts of Africa to find relief and refuge. more >>